


Baking Lesson

by Squarepeg72



Series: 31 Pegs on the Wall [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Baking, Cooking Lessons, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26828164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: Ron has found something Hermione can’t do and decides to help her learn.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: 31 Pegs on the Wall [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950172
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: 31 Days of Writing Challenge - Fall 2020





	Baking Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beatlechicksteph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beatlechicksteph/gifts).



> Written for 31 Day of Writting Challenge 2020
> 
> Day 4 - A challenge given to you by someone else - Person A doesn’t know how to cook a simple dish. Person B teaches them, with a little bit of humor.
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/50419956128/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 

_“Ginny, HELP!”_ Ginny watched the ghostly otter swim through her kitchen cabinets. _“Ron will be here in an hour, and I have nothing cooked. I tried pasta, and I managed to burn the water, and there is sauce on the ceiling and…”_

Ginny held up her hand to stop Hermione’ Patronus from knocking anything important out of the cabinets. Pulling out her wand from her boot, Ginny sent a message of her own. _“Just order in from Mario’s and get him to teach you to make cookies for dessert. Just confess the fact that you can’t boil water without setting it on fire and leave the rest to him.”_

* * *

Hermione caught her breath as she listened to Ginny’s advice. “This had better work, Weasley. Your brother loves to eat, and right now I can’t even make a sandwich.”

Hermione picked her wand up from the only clean space on her counter and waved it at the disaster that was her kitchen. “Time to get this cleaned up and order food. He will be here soon enough to see what a disaster I am.”

“What was that, love?” Ron’s quiet whisper in her ear caused Hermione to jump. “Is it a good thing I stopped at Mario’s and the grocers before I came here?”

“Ronald Weasley, you scared me.” Hermione turned and batted at his shoulders. “You are early, and I am not ready. My flat is a disaster, and I don’t have anything ready and…”

Hermione’s nervous chatter was stopped by Ron’s soft kiss. “The kitchen can be cleaned, and I have known for a while now that your skills do not lay in the kitchen. I care about you, not your ability to make a sandwich.”

Hermione buried her head in Ron’s chest, embarrassed by the state of her kitchen and the meal she had attempted. “Why do I even try? This is worse than potions with Professor Snape. How hard could it be to boil water and heat up tomato sauce?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ron put his finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look her in the eyes. “There is more to love than being able to boil water. I learned to cook from Mum as a way to help. I can teach you.”

“That is not what I had planned for tonight.” Hermione tried to duck her head again. “I wanted to make something for you because you do too much for me. Look at what it got me, pasta sauce on the ceiling…”

Another soft kiss from Ron stopped her worried rant. “I know the witch I love well enough to know that she has many strengths and weaknesses. I know exactly who to come to when there is a puzzle to be solved or threads to be unraveled. I also know you can learn how to do anything with time and patience. So, tonight, we eat food from Mario’s and then we make cookies.”

“Are you sure about that?” Hermione looked around at the disaster that was her kitchen. “I managed to burn water and explode sauce. Seamus would be proud. The oven may not be the best place to work on my skills.”

“I brought two recipes for us to try.” Ron tucked Hermione's head under his chin. “My favourite and Mum’s. They are the first two recipes that any Weasley learns when they are learning to cook. Even Fred managed to get them right, and he was the King of Kitchen Disasters and unexplained explosions.”

Hermione felt the tension melt from her body as she let the heat of Ron’s body wrap around her. “That could work. But the kitchen may be beyond salvage.”

Ron shifted Hermione so she was against his left side and let his wand drop out of the sleeve of his jacket. “Another thing Mum taught us was how to clean up a kitchen disaster.”

Ron tapped the kitchen counter three times and muttered a few words. “Nan Weasley Kitchen Scrub spell will have everything ready for making cookies after we eat. Let’s sit by the fire and enjoy the food.”

* * *

Hermione looked around her kitchen and was pleasantly surprised. “It looks like that disaster never happened.”

Ron wrapped his arms around her middle and settled his chin into the crook of her neck. “Just like always. Now, are you ready to make some cookies?”

“I’m not sure I want to mess up what the spell has done.” Hermione continued to look around the clean kitchen. “Baking involves flour and sugar and the oven.”

“Are you afraid of a little flour and sugar?” Ron teased as he kissed the hollow where his chin had been resting. “You have faced off against trolls and evil wizards without fear. What could possibly go wrong with a few cookies?”

“Did you see my kitchen when you got here?” Hermione shrugged and tried not to laugh. “That was just water and tomatoes.”

“I have full faith in your teacher.” Ron nipped her ear as he pulled away. “I have a bag full of tricks and secret Weasley, no-fail recipes. But first, we need appropriate robes.”

Hermione gave up on suppressing her laughter as Ron set a bag on her kitchen table and began to pull items from it. A mixer, containers of flour and sugar, eggs, butter and cocoa powder were followed by baking sheets, aprons, a small cauldron and a collection of ingredients and utensils she wasn’t sure what to call.

“Did you bring your Mum’s entire kitchen to me?” Hermione tried to stop the giggle that continued to rise as Ron donned a bright pink apron embossed with “Kiss me … I bake.”

“Here, put this one.” Ron held out another apron. “I bought it just for you. It should keep most of the flour off of you.”

Hermione took the red and gold apron from Ron and looked at what was written on it. “ Kiss me … I’m learning to bake. Ronald Weasley, how long have you been planning this?”

“Weasley family secret.” Ron carefully laid two small pieces of parchment on the kitchen table before he set a small cauldron on her cooktop. “We’ll start with Mum’s favourites and then move on to mine.”

“Since when are cookies made in a cauldron?” Hermione tied her apron behind her back and tried to read the recipes over Rn’s shoulder. “I thought you said we were baking not brewing potions.”

“The first cookie any Weasley learns to make doesn’t go in the oven.” Ron kissed Hermione’s cheek and sorted through the ingredients he had laid out on the table. “A small cauldron that won’t over boil and basic ingredients. Sugar, butter, milk, cocoa, peanut butter, and oats. We just have to watch the time after the first step starts to boil. Spread this on the counter beside the cauldron.”

Hermione took the roll of wax paper from Ron and rolled out enough to cover the cabinet beside her cooktop. “So are we baking or cooking? I am feeling a little confused.”

“We are making cookies.” Ron kissed the top of Hermione’s head and handed her two bowls of ingredients. “Put these in the cauldron over the butter. Tap the cauldron twice with your wand and then start stirring. Let me know when it starts to bubble.”

“Okay?!?” Hermione dumped the sugar and milk into the cauldron and tapped it twice with her wand. “Are you sure this makes cookies? There is no flour, and the oven isn’t on. Are you sure this is right?”

“There are reasons why this is the first cookie we all learned to make.” Ron dumped dark brown powder into the cauldron. “Keep stirring. Now that the cocoa is in, it won’t take long for the mix to start bubbling. We have 90 seconds to stir after it starts to bubble. I’ll get the rest of the ingredients ready while you watch and stir.”

Hermione tried not to shout as she saw the first bubbles pop on the surface of her mixture. “Ron, bubbles. What now? There are bubbles. Please don’t let this explode…”

Ron turned over the sand timer and put his hand over Hermione’s to keep her stirring the mixture. “When the sand runs out, tap the cauldron twice. Then we will be ready to add the oats and peanut butter and form the cookies.”

Hermione concentrated on stirring and watching the sand fall through the timer. As the last grain passed from the top to the bottom, she felt Ron’s arms reach around her. “I’ll just add the oats and peanut butter. Keep stirring until you can’t see the colour of the oats or the peanut butter.”

Hermione continued to stir as Ron laid out more ingredients on the table. “Mione, where do you keep your knives? I need one to get the cherries ready. Are you doing okay over there?”

“Knives are in the top drawer on the other side of the cooktop. It is getting hard to stir.” Hermione grunted as she started to panic. “Have I messed them up? This smells so good.”

“That’s just perfect.” Ron kissed her cheek and pointed to the wax paper on the cabinet. “Use your spoon to make cookies. Just scoop out a spoonful and plop it on the paper.”

“Plop it on the paper?” Hermione furrowed her brow as she lifted her first scoop from the cauldron. “Are you sure this will stay together and make cookies? I still am not sure about this.”

“They look just fine.” Ron glanced over his shoulder as he chopped something at the table. “You can lick the spoon when you scoop the last cookie out of the cauldron. We’ll have to wait until they cool to eat them anyway.”

“Okay. Goop is all scooped out.” Hermione took a lick of her spoon as she walked to the table to see what Ron was working on. “What are we doing while we wait.”

“I am creaming butter and sugar and chopping cherries.” Ron took a finger and wiped chocolate off Hermione’s nose. “You might want to improve your spoon licking technique. Drop the spoon in the sink and come back to the table.”

“So what can I do to help now?” Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron’s waist as she watched him chop cherries and chocolate bars. “What exactly are we making with all of this? I get the butter and flour and eggs, but the cherries and chocolate? How exactly do you cream butter?”

“The mixer is doing its job mixing the butter and sugar together.” Ron shrugged and pointed to the bowl filled with white powder. “ I need you to carefully mix together the flour, salt and soda. Once that’s mixed, we’ll add it to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. The cherries and chocolate are what makes the cookies taste good.”

“All done mixing. Just add it to the…” A puff of white and coughing filled the kitchen. “Was I supposed to turn off the mixer or something?”

Ron wiped flour off his face and looked through the fog of flour to see a sheepish Hermione still tilting her bowl of dry ingredients into the mixer bowl. “Yes, love. You need to turn off the mixer before you add the flour. You have a little flour on your nose.”

Ron stopped fighting the laughter he as reached over and turned off the mixer before wiping the flour from her nose. He did not want to mention that her entire kitchen was coated in flour. He was afraid the tremble of her lower lip was going to be followed by tears if he didn’t do something.

Swirling two fingers in the air, Ron pulled all the dry ingredients back into the bowl Hermione was still holding. “Want to try that step again, love? You are doing better than I did the first time. Mum swore she cleaned egg and flour paste out of my ear for a month.”

“A month.” Hermione stuttered as she watched her bowl fill back up with dry ingredients. “What exactly did you do that was worse than this?”

“I convinced Mum I could make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies as easy as a single batch.” Ron shrugged as he held up a wooden spoon. “The mixer was on high, and Dad had not quite figured out how to get the Muggle machine to work with a touch of magic. It flung flour and dough out faster than Harry can send out a spell. We were dodging dough bullets for a good five minutes before Mum figured out how to shut it off. I have never seen Dad run through the garden so fast.”

Hermione started to laugh as she imagined Ron and Molly trying to dodge bits of dough as it escaped a mixing bowl and Arthur running through the garden to escape a dough covered Molly. “I guess this is not so bad. Can we still finish the cookies?”

“We only have to slowly add the dry ingredients, cherries, and chocolate, and then we can scoop out the dough and put them in the oven.” Ron handed Hermione a wooden spoon and picked up the cutting board. “You stir, and I’ll add the ingredients. Stir until it feels stiffer than the other cookies.”

Ron and Hermione worked together to get the last of the ingredients mixed together. “Okay. I think it’s mixed. Are you sure the dough is supposed to be pink?” Hermione looked at the bowl of dough skeptically.

“It is perfect. Now we scoop out the dough and put them in the oven.” Ron took a small ice cream scoop off the counter and dipped it in the cookie dough. “Perfect. Do you have a timing spell? Can you set it for fifteen minutes?”

Hermione found her wand and flicked it at her upper cabinet as Ron put the baking sheet in the oven. Numbers glowed against the cabinet as the fifteen-minute countdown began.

“Not bad for your first baking lesson.” Ron kissed the tip of Hermione’s nose as he pulled her into his body. “How should we celebrate. We have fifteen minutes to kill.”

“Care for a snog?”

**Author's Note:**

> Recipes for your Muggle Kitchen
> 
> Molly’s Favorites (Preacher Cookies)  
> ½ cup butter  
> ½ cup milk  
> 2 cups sugar  
> 4 teaspoons cocoa powder  
> Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil over low to medium heat. Stir for 90 seconds and remove from heat. Add ½ cup peanut butter and 2 cups Quick Oats. Stir until thoroughly combined. Spoon onto wax paper in walnut sided circles. Let cool and enjoy!
> 
> Ron’s Favorite (Cherry Cordial Cookies)  
> ½ stick unsalted butter, softened  
> ¾ cup brown sugar  
> 1 egg  
> 1 tsp vanilla  
> ⅛ tsp almond extract  
> Small amount of pink gel food coloring  
> 1 ½ cups all purpose flour  
> ½ tsp baking soda  
> ¼ tsp salt  
> ¾ cup drained and finely chopped maraschino cherries (plus extra for garnish)  
> ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chip (plus extra for garnish)
> 
> Instructions  
> 1\. Preheat oven to 350 F  
> 2\. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 1 minute, or until combined. Add the egg and extracts.  
> 3\. Add in a small amount of the pink gel food coloring and mix. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing by hand with a spatula.  
> 4\. Add the finely chopped maraschino cherries and chocolate chip, mix by hand until combined. The batter will be thick.  
> 5\. Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough balls onto a silicone lined baking sheet.  
> 6\. Press additional cherries and chocolate chips onto the outside of the dough balls.  
> 7\. Bake for 14-16 minutes be sure not to over bake or the cookies will lose their pink color and turn brown.  
> 8\. Allow the cookies to cool to the touch in the baking sheet (about 15 minutes) then move them to a cooling rack.


End file.
